Finishing What Was Started
by Beta the Second
Summary: [FE:SS] What if Erika and Ephraim never managed to kill the Demon King? What if they fell at the hands of his foul light? Will the world ever manage to see the light of day again? Undefined hatius. NEED REVIEWS!
1. Prologue: The End of the Beginning

Finishing What Was Started

Summary: What if Erika and Ephraim never managed to kill the Demon King? What if they fell at the hands of his foul light? Will the world ever manage to see the light of day again?

Note: This is my first story. Please be nice, but flames and criticism will be taken with an open mind.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem. If I did then Path of Radiance would play the Fire Emblem theme when you turn it on.

The fowl breath of the Demon King nearly caused the blue haired princess of Renais to retch. The scent of decay was overpowering, but the humming of her sacred weapon fought the urge to run. Her twin brother had just managed to strike down one of his numerous guards. A Wight, the foul purple skeletons that serve the Demon King, fell with a clatter. The red haired mage boy in the blue cloak began to cheer as the bones burned from his magic.

In all his excitement the boy failed to notice the draco-zombie's eyeless head swiveling towards him. The druid from Grado rushed forwards as quickly as he could without tripping over all his heavy cloaks. The pale haired man swiftly seized the surprised mage boy and shoved him inside his expansive collection of clothes.

The red armored blond girl from Grado landed the finishing blow on one an Elder Bael. The rash axe-wielding boy next to her suddenly strung his bow. A single gargoyle fell with a sickening crunch.

The two of them apparently never noticed the Arch Mogall creeping up behind them. The princess's pure white horse snorted in readiness. The young princess charged right at the monster before it could do anything. In seconds the monster disappeared in a fading flash of darkness.

Then she could hear the sound of pounding feet. Looking up she saw the giant skull head that was Formortiis, the Demon King. He released a feral-type roar before a thin screech. The world began to get fuzzy for her, the ex-Grado soldier, her brother, and the axe-boy.

The red haired mage boy didn't get to look up. All he heard were the last few whispered words of the Grado mage. Tears trickled down his childish face. That man had just died to protect him from the deadly flames of that draco-zombie!

Anger mixed with personal sorrow. Despite any better judgment the mage jumped out from under the dead mage's body. The wind began to pick up as he cast his spell. The familiar rune was traced into the air right in front of his body. Giant blades of air shot out of this rune to tear the draco-zombie into mincemeat.

The blue haired Pegasus rider shot out towards her sleeping friend. With lance safely tucked between leg and seat the girl extended her arms out to her friend. She had organized it so she and the wyvern rider would dart out and rescue their commanders.

So far everything was going well. The two had safely led the horses and sleeping companions away from the Demon. Then inspiration struck the girl like lightening. Her gloved fingers grasped her last two javelins. Flipping them so that the blunt ends were facing outwards she chucked them at the two sleeping fighters.

The resulting clatter failed to wake them from their demonic sleep. The Demon King's head snapped towards her. "I'm sorry, brother. If this doesn't work, then it's all up to you," she whispered quickly as the demon pounded towards her. The Pegasus didn't want to move away from its spot on the ground.

A blinding flash of light overpowered her eyes for a few moments. But that was all it took. Blind, she couldn't find any lances to arm herself with and the enemy was approaching. Some heavy limb came hurtling towards her. She tried to brace herself, but the limb was like a pile of bricks or her mount. Her back snapped from the force.

The other winged rider tried to destroy the demon. His lance barely even marred the bony monster. The furious mage boy also darted in. His winds managed to weaken the demon, but not enough. His fate was even uglier than the Pegasus rider before him or the Grado researcher that saved him.

The demon's head turned towards the mounted blond man. "Should anyone live to remember this, I, Cormag, died with a lance in hand prepared to meet my fate with honor," he shouted as the demon tried to blind him. Cormag safely closed his eyes and turned his head, but completely failed to defend himself from his wyvern suddenly crashing down on him. Apparently the wyvern was the target and, once blinded, threw him off before falling on his ex-rider.

The lucky few sleeping men and women never felt their fates. The rest of the army led by the prince and princess of Renais fell shortly after from the tide of monsters appearing from the Demon King's complete revival.

And that's chapter one! Hope you all liked it. From here on out to the very end is nothing more than a bunch of original characters. If you have one, please tell me his or her name, size, description, job, one stat he/she's really good at (like evading attacks), and one he/she's really bad at (like super poor defense.) None of that "Oh my character doesn't _have_ any weaknesses!" 'Cause if you say that, I'll make sure they get really horrible stats and/or die eventually. Please send these via e-mail, but if you can't do that, then send it through a _super_ vague review since I'm not sure if it would work. (Example: Ewan: red haired boy who starts weak, but becomes a wonderful mage.)


	2. Chapter 1: Rebellion!

Yeah! I'm happy, someone read my story! I'll be continuing really soon for it. Thanks.

Disclaimer: Whoever owns Fire Emblem isn't me. If I did, then I'd know who does.

Chapter 1: Rebellion!

Brown withering fields covered every possible horizon. Every few feet you could see the forms of humans bent over attempting to work the dead fields. Beyond them were the cackling overseers, some of the weakest monsters alive—or dead depending on how you looked at it—revenants.

Really there was no point in working the fields except to keep the small human populous alive. The Demon King seemed to find a sort of sick pleasure in completely obliterating the human kind and transforming them into his loyal followers. Everything involving the human race was systematical thanks to the failure of the Blue Haired Twins.

The system never changed, no one ever thought anymore, the only things anyone learned was never to deviate from the instructions given to your sector. Everyday the humans would wake, eat a few pieces of old bread, work—either hunting, cooking, or farming—and at noon stop for the remainder of whatever you had left of your tiny dinner biscuit, work, and then sleep. Nothing ever changed and if anyone ever rebelled against this system they were…removed.

A hunting party of five extremely skinny teenagers trudged through the crusty grounds. Each held an equally pathetic forest animal ready to be turned into small meat patties. On either side of the teenagers adults grunted over their heavy hoes. A small shudder ran through the leader of this party, a long black haired girl with sea green eyes, as she passed her only living relative.

The overseer of the overseers approached—a bonewalker equipped with a lance—and checked their ID's. The muscle less jaws clicked permission for the five to continue. The young leader glanced down at her white tag which read Sam. Sam gave a slight snort. _'It must be odd,'_ she realized suddenly, _'that I can read. All thanks to that old crone back when I was still in the kitchens. If I recall it all correctly she told me never to go out and openly tell anyone.'_

The pain from someone stepping onto her thinly clothed foot snapped the fourteen-year-old from her thoughts. Her friend, a strong younger boy called Will, hissed at the older girl to keep moving. Sam blinked a few times before nodding and following the misty purple eyed boy to the kitchens, completely unknowing to what was going to happen.

The young blond watched everything that happened from the time the hunters returned to the time they were all eating a slab of burnt meat the size of a young child's fist. The blond boy Isaac smirked suddenly and pulled the thin string he was holding.

The effect was instantaneous. The small pack of explosive runes he had managed to salvage from the guard's rooms sent out their balls of flame. The mindless guards ran right towards the scene of the explosion and into the fire.

Isaac chuckled slightly until he saw what was happening. The charred guards had managed to call in reinforcements and the humans were running around like headless chickens to get away from the fire.

"Uh…uh-oh. This is trouble," he whispered to the older boy sitting next to him. "Let's scram while we still can."

The seventeen-year-old raven haired man grabbed the kid's wrist and bolted for the nearest exit. Even more guards poured into the tiny mess hall and the two shot forth even faster. The raven haired boy turned to watch as thirty more guards attempted to put out his thieving friend's fire rune, but kept plowing through the crowd.

"Oof!" muttered a very solid obstacle as all three teenagers fell rump first onto the dusty ground.

"Ugh, we do _not_ have time for this," muttered the oldest of the trio. "No time to explain, just don't offer any resistance unless you want to become the King's fodder," stated the man as he grabbed the black haired girl's wrist and charged towards the door.

"You know the plan, right Isaac? Okay then, go!" whispered the eldest as he darted towards the dead forests, girl still in tow.

Only after the two had reached a small tree stump did the girl speak.

"Let me guess, you're a part of a rebellion aren't you?" she asked with a groan. Anyone even suspected of rebellion were removed from the overall picture.

"Yup! Isaac and me are working on a way to get to freedom and liberate other work facilities like this," replied the boy with a huge grin.

The girl leaned back, letting her mid-back length black hair spread out behind her as she massaged her temples. "Then who are you?" she asked after some time.

"The name's Evan. What's yours and what can you do to assist us?" he asked with another grin.

"Why should I tell you? For all I know you could just be trying to lead me into an elaborate trap or sorts."

Evan smirked _again._ "Well, if you must know, I only wish to end this tyranny. I'm sick of eating bare husks and being a slave for some tyrant. I'm going to freedom and you would too unless you _want_ to become a mindless servant for our _wonderful_ King."

Sam pouted. He was completely right; she'd be executed or turned into a bonewalker on the spot. "Fine, I'm Sam and there isn't much I can do, but I _can_ read."

The shock on Evan's face was obvious. "You can _read?_ I never knew anyone besides those mindless bone heaps could. Say, could you read this for me?" he asked suddenly, pulling out a small red tome from the folds of his rags.

Cautious of any traps or sudden explosions the girl reached out for the musty and well-read book. Quick fingers flipped the stiff pages open and traced the lettering. "This is instructions for how to cast some basic magic. Where'd you find this?" she asked suspiciously. Only in the small area known as Frelia could you still get magic tomes like this.

"I found in on some guy that died in the forest. Looted him of his cloak, boots, valuables, and gave him a right proper burial," stated the boy.

"Uh-huh. You'd better believe it!" stated Isaac. Sam nearly screamed from fright.

"W-when did you come here?" she demanded.

"Ah! Isaac, you're back. Did you get anything useful?" asked Evan as he took the patched bed sheet from his friend.

"Yup! I got a few iron swords, some traveling cloaks, and a small stash of food. Aren't I just the world's greatest thief?" asked the boy, grinning at his success.

"Yeah, and now let's scram before the guards come," Evan nervously said as dead leaves were crushed about twenty-five feet off in the distance. Sam gulped, _why _was she with this group? A self-centered jerk of a thief and a sword wielder that can't stop _grinning_ was not the ideal traveling team.

A red flagged lance came flying at the retreating fighters barely glancing the newly found mage. A slight cry of fear fell from her lips as she continued to run, never once thinking of catching the trees aflame in their flight.

Another javelin came at them. The first few revenants shuffled out from behind their trees. The smell of fear alerted every single rotting monster, causing all the undead faces to snap up towards the three.

With a moan the first line of monsters lunged forwards. "Go! I'll hold them and catch up with you two at the meeting place!" shouted Evan as he turned to face the monsters. His two teammates were hesitant about leaving until Sam tried to drag the thief away.

The two ran for their small lives away from their raven haired comrade just as the eldest boy struck down his first monster. One thing was certain regardless of how you looked at it, he'd need backup soon. And either they'd have to join the fray or hope for a miracle.

Oh, I hope that was a good first chapter. I'd like to say thanks to SamtheBranded for helping me get my first OC in, the mage Sam! I'll be accepting OC ideas until just about the last chapter, and I'll tell you when that is. Multiple character ideas coming from the same reader is perfectly fine. Don't forget I have to make up an entire Fire Emblem cast. Oh yeah, I think I'll get plenty of magic users so melee fighters would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and please review.


	3. Chapter 2: Rescue?

Thank you people! I checked my story and I have 117 hits (that's low if you're boasting about 100 hits...)and one person put me on their favorites! Thank you; this was just what I needed to get writing again. (Nearly didn't write due to sudden depression.) Also my next update will be on one of three things, Thursday after 4:00 pm US central time, Friday really late, or Saturday morning. I'll try getting it out Thursday, but no promises.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fire Emblem I wouldn't be writing a fan fiction.

--

Chapter 2: Rescue?

The small iron sword flashed once more as the blade cut through the air. Evan could only square his already sweat-drenched shoulders as he heard his two other companions run away. He was all alone now with a bunch of mindless monsters.

Another revenant fell to the grass in a pile of rotten drool. _'If I get caught, I'm _so_ screwed. Somehow I doubt the overseers—the ones with _brains_ that is—will take this act as an incident.'_ The shield of revenants nearly seemed gone and the iron sword didn't feel near as heavy as before.

A sudden pain blossomed from unguarded right shoulder. Looking down he could see the tip of a javelin piercing his thin shirt. The pure shock of the pain kept him from screaming out until the weapon was yanked out again. His blade flashed again as he bit down on his tongue. There was no point in yelling out to his friend, he'd just turn around and kill himself out here.

--

As it was Isaac and Sam were running as fast as they could away from the forest. Small crystal tears dropped from Isaac's face as he led the confused girl away. Lines could be seen on his face from where the tears had washed away the dust.

The young blond led the slightly older mage right out of the forest, certain that they were leaving a close friend to be seized by death. But their barely covered feet pounded across the dead floor and let each of the sharp branches leave deep cuts across their uncovered skin.

With a final burst of speed the two erupted from the forest and away from their friend and leader. Breathing very heavily the two runaways staggered over to a small ring of rocks. If they could only get a few minutes breathing time they could try searching for a way to return to their friend.

Sam was already on the brown stringy grass, breathing in the air of freedom, and clutching the small beaten magic tome. Isaac wasn't one to stand waiting when a lady was already on the grass. In a matter of seconds Isaac's eyes were covered as he imagined every time with his dear friend, most likely no longer with the living.

--Flashback times!—

"_Shh! If no one catches us, we can nip a bit of food," whispered the seven-year-old Evan. With a grin the older boy snagged up two small meat patties for himself and a wide-eyed blond._

"_Hey! No stealing food or I'll turn you in!" shouted the human traitor. With guilty looks the two dropped their meat patties back over the small metal grill._

_--_

"_Come on, it'll be fun."_

"_I dunno, Evan. You should know that the Lead Traitor doesn't like dirt."_

"_Party pooper," pouted the eight-year-old Evan. The two had just gotten off punishment for letting in a puny pile of dirt in the traitor's quarters._

"_I don't know about being a party pooper. Just more sensible than you," replied the blond, his hair just starting to gain the wild and slightly stringy look he still adorned._

"_Raagh! Who did this? When I find out…!" shouted the leader of the human overseers, a group of humans who agreed to fight and lead amongst the monsters._

"_You did it anyways!" shouted Isaac as he began to turn away from the furious man._

_The raven kid had already run from the room, leaving behind a trail of dust._

_--_

_The two had been caught after Evan's second fun with dirt. The two had to make each of the traitor's rooms completely spotless or suffer the consequences. So they ended up with one of the new traitors glaring at their bent backs as they scrubbed each uneven stone._

"_Hurry up! I want _every _one of these quarters spotless!" barked the boy. Evan began muttering indecencies like a leaky faucet under his breath. Every time he scrubbed more dirt would appear. The rags were possessed!_

_Or really dirty. There wasn't enough water to properly clean the rooms, so they were just stirring the dirt. Not that the two troublemakers cared. Just hours earlier the two had rolled in mud to add extra grime. Besides, there was nothing better than a good long mud bath._

_By the end of the day the Leader could only come back to see a large number of dirty swirls and a mound of dried mud._

--End Flashbacks…--

The rustling on the grass instantly made the boy snap from his old memories. Someone was approaching while trying to be silent…and failing miserably. Seriously! If you want to approach someone quietly don't wear a sword!

Wait…a sword?

With a cry the blond bolted up, the sudden movement making black cloud his vision for a few seconds. With a second cry, this one muffled by a gritty hand, he launched himself backwards. Sam had one hand ruffling through her book while the other clamped the boy's mouth shut.

Smiling above them was a grinning dark blue haired _thing_. Straight bangs obstructed the things eyes which were conveniently a dark blue to match the mess of hair.

"E-Evan?" Isaac croaked. The thing instantly backed away and allowed him a proper view. She had barely tanned skin and a permanent grin plastered to her face. Her white shirt was covered by a dark blue vest and ended just above her waistline. Both of her hands were placed firmly on the white skirt with the sword sheathed and dangling from her hips.

"I don't know any Evan. Are you okay?" she asked suddenly, nearly peering up as close as she was when Isaac had first spotted her. Just beside him the page turned that had paused moments earlier resumed.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? You don't look like a slave," stated the new mage girl.

The girl gasped and backed away before bowing. "My deepest apologies! I'm Yumi, and what are you doing in this turf?" The two companions stared blankly. "Uh…what do you mean by slave? I'm a myrmidon of the land once known as Renais."

"What's Ren-a?" asked Isaac suddenly, yanking Sam's hand off his mouth.

"Renais is the old term for this land. That small ring of rocks o'er there used to be the border guard. Really and why do you think I'm a slave? There are only a few such places here and they're all farther northeast," pouted Yumi as if she was super insulted.

"…oh. Wait! You said you're a myrmidon, right? Could you help us?" Isaac asked, eyes shining with hope. Sam nearly slapped him with all her girly might.

"Isaac! What do you think you're doing? We can't just ask a random traveler to help. She might be one of _them_," hissed Sam.

"But, why would she be a traitor? They'd all be back at their camps, right?" asked Isaac.

"Yeah, just wait until she can turn us all into bonewalkers!" replied Sam, preparing to whack the young thief at any second.

"Look, I know that we're at risk. But at least she has weapons! If nothing else she might be able to rescue Evan and then we can all overtake her and any other traitors. Besides, we're still close enough that we'd know if she was trying to lead us the wrong way." Sam just blinked at this statement. In all truth she hadn't thought the entire thing out in all her suspicions. With a defeated sigh she lowered her hand and closed her tome.

"If you two are done bickering like a married couple, would you not mind telling me what you'd need a myrmidon like myself for?" asked Yumi with an evil grin that grew when the two ex-slaves' faces grew a deep red.

Both breathed in very deeply before Sam spoke. "I am…Jenna and one of our companions was caught in a monster attack. We were hoping that someone could support us in his rescue."

Yumi grinned mischievously before pausing for a moment. "Yeah sure I could help, but I think it would be best if I brought along a healer friend. Don't worry, she was just out to grab a few wildflowers and I'd trust her with my life!"

Isaac and Sam just nodded while the hyper girl called her sea green haired friend over. In seconds the foursome were tramping back through the forest and where their friend remained fighting for his life.

--

Evan was beginning to tire. It had been nearly a full hour of fighting and his sword was threatening to snap. His shirt was skin was nicely puckered with cuts and long gashes. The mound of fallen monsters was threatening to fall over the young man, but he still fought. He had to fight. For Isaac.

Suddenly a blue and white blur flashed across his vision. _'Okay, that's the end. Now I know I'm dead if I see random violent flashes.'_ To his amazement the blur slowed to show a grinning, and slightly panting, girl gripping a sword.

"Oi! You're Evan right? A friend told me to come and help," she shouted as the sword she was holding was tossed at the exhausted man. Instinct caught the hilt for him as he watched the girl take down another clump of monsters with a back flip.

Fireballs were erupting from over his head as more monsters fell to smoldering ashes.

"Evan! We've come back to help you!" shouted Isaac as he took down a monster attempting to take down the eldest boy present. "Did you _really_ expect us to leave you here after you dragged me from my family?" asked Sam from behind him as another flame destroyed another revenant.

"Hey! That was my target!" shouted Yumi as the flames spread to engulf the monster surrounding her. "Don't worry, Jenna and Henry told me about you. I'm Yumi and that's my healer friend, Lily."

"Jenna?" Evan asked with a raised brow.

"Don't ask," replied Sam through gritted teeth.

Evan shook his head until his gaze rested upon sea green hair. The girl, Lily, just smiled airily and nodded before raising her staff. Evan's skin began to hiss slightly as the cuts reformed into relatively perfect skin. Blinking a bit Evan smirked one of his most annoying smirks in the world before charging the enemy line.

After the reinforcements arrived everything was ten times easier. It was so easy that the legion of monsters the camp had sent after them was gone within thirty sweaty minutes. Sam was attempting to burn the remains while ignoring the hyper Yumi and bragging Isaac while Lily was introduced to Evan.

In all their joy of surviving (or having another person to talk to) none of them noticed the cloaked figure watching them. Or hear the tiny rustle of the leaves. Nor the small black orb forming from behind a dead tree trunk.

--

And I shall leave my story like that. I'll admit I didn't expect for the chapter to be this long… **Please** review. It was only thanks to a certain reviewer that I wrote this chapter. Special thanks to my first reviewer for this and the character Yumi.


	4. Chapter 3: Ambushed

I'm so sorry! I meant to update nearly **36** hours ago, but minor writer's block, homework, family outings, and band contests finally caught up. Despite the fact that I should be doing my band and history homework, I'm doing this. You should be honored. But one thing: should I raise the rating on this? I'm trying to keep the story K, but I wanted some opinions on what rating it should be.

And two more things. I drew a picture of Evan for a school project and if you want to see it, I'll try and e-mail it to you as soon as the teacher grades it and I completely finish with the picture (still needs to be colored and scanned). The other thing, due to some advice from a certain reader, I'm thinking of pairing certain units together. If I decide to pair your character(s) up I'll contact you. That's all for now, I think I'll stop stalling.

Disclaimer: If Fire Emblem was mine, the Fire Emblem would stay consistent rather than a sword, wedding emblem, stone, and then a medallion. Seriously Nintendo, make up your mind!

--

_In all their joy of surviving (or having another person to talk to) none of them noticed the cloaked figure watching them. Or hear the tiny rustle of the leaves. Nor the small black orb forming from behind a dead tree trunk._

The group of happy, and exhausted companions, began the trek back into the relatively free land of Renais-Frelia. The last of the five companions, Isaac, had only just walked away from the field of battle when the black orb struck the forest floor.

"Uh…hey Evan? What're we gonna do now that we're all safe?" asked Isaac after nearly twenty minutes of accidentally dodging black magic. The group didn't hear someone nearly fall out of a nearby tree or the swish of a dark cloak.

"I dunno really. Maybe we'd just…no…yes…go…no…too dangerous, don't want too many casualties…" the rescued raven haired boy muttered before finally ending with a shrug.

Sam froze right in the target area of another flux spell. The four other fighters all turned to her.

"Wha--?" started Yumi before finding herself at the receiving end of a death glare.

"You _didn't_ think this through?" she screamed.

Isaac just snorted. "Of course Evan didn't! He can't think that far ahead, unlike me!" Yumi relaxed as soon as Sam's glare shifted towards Isaac. "In fact, I could take that big ball of shadows flying at your head and not flinch once!"

Sam paled in fright, Evan sweat-dropped, Yumi began trying to decide whether to shove Sam or stand watching, and Lily just spaced out. "See? I'll prove it too!" shouted Isaac as he suddenly transformed into a little kid stuck in a teenager's body. His arms shot out and pushed on Sam's crumbling brown cloak as he attempted to prove himself.

Evan nearly screamed like a little girl before he saw Isaac standing a few inches away from a crater, his own grungy cloak showing signs of the attempted ambush. "Eh-heh, on second thought…magic isn't my strong point."

It took all of Yumi's self-control from whacking the thief silly with her sword hilt. "Come on! If you had seriously taken the hit, then I'd lose someone to talk to!" she shouted while shaking the poor boy's bony shoulders.

"Yumi, if someone seriously is trying to attack us with a flux spell, shouldn't we leave? If we can leave the forest the attacker will be forced to follow unless he or she doesn't want us in his or her attack range," stated Lily, only just returning from her personal world long enough to see Isaac getting his insides shaken up a bit.

"Lily has a point there, Isaac…and Yumi? That _is_ your name, right?" asked Evan, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, of course Yumi is my name! What else do you think it'd be? Priscilla? (1) But I don't know of any 'Isaac.' Are you _sure _nothing hit your head too hard?" asked Yumi.

"Isaac…" started the angry leader.

"Uh…later. Shouldn't we be leaving now rather than standing around here?" asked Isaac as he made several obvious attempts to leave the forest.

"We really should. 'Henry' here can even lead the way," suggested Lily as she began prodding the blonde's back with the butt of her staff.

Sam just glanced at Evan with obvious pity as the group began to move again. Yumi had just walked out of the forest when the last of the flux spells ended much to Isaac's relief.

One sandaled foot landed on a seemingly inconspicuous wire when several javelins came plummeting at their heads. Both Isaac and Lily (boy do I love teasing Isaac) yelped in fear while Sam began to desperately search for her weapons.

The dual yelps of fear caused more weapons to come flying. Each iron-tipped projectile glinted off the setting sun long enough to blind each of the five at least once creating several openings. Openings that were exploited.

Several new cuts were made to Evan's numerous and slowly healing collection. Lily's staff had begun to lose the white shine that radiated from the light blue crystal tip. The sword Evan had run away with had snapped sending the shards out to pepper his skin.

Sam's grungy spell book had collapsed in her hands and Isaac was out of breath from trying to dodge. Yumi was attempting to save everyone by setting off more traps.

"It's hopeless!" shouted Isaac. "One of those traitors must've spotted us. We'll be bonewalkers for sure!"

"I can't go on…" whispered Yumi as she lay back on the brown grass completely exhausted.

"There's nothing we can do now. I'm sorry everyone," muttered Evan as he dropped the nicked sword he had received from Yumi.

"Come on, come on. There has to be _something_ we can do," chanted Sam as she glanced around the dead field, letting the pages of her torn tome catch the wind.

"Face it, we've been captured. There's nothing to do about it," stated Lily as her gloved fingers slipped from her dulled staff.

"Halt!" shouted someone. From the sounds of it, the speaker was male andstanding from behind them. All except for Isaac froze. His own blue eyes widened as he slowly spun on the sight to see—?

--

Once again I'm terribly sorry! Hit me or something, maybe I'll update on time and with a longer chapter. I meant to have this written by Wednesday, but my band director scared me enough that I practiced for the contest rather than write anything. On the other hand we got all perfects at it! Because of it, I attempted humor at this chapter. If it totally sucked please tell me and I'll be sure never to attempt such a feat again.

Anyways, I'm **still** accepting characters.And **please review**. Maybe _then_ I'll update on time.


	5. Chapter 4: Strategizing

Bah! Sorry guys, I meant to type this up a while ago, but we had tests and I wanted to score high on them. Not to mention that my mom decided to have a long chat about how to treat my sibling of lower intellect than me.

One other thing. I've got the picture of Evan saved and shot with an anti-virus program (I do **not** want to consider what is _in_ those computers at school) so if anyone wants to see a picture I hand drew and colored on PhotoDraw (I'm only a n00b! Don't hurt me!) Just send word and I'll try my best to send it your way, but note that he will be wearing clothes more suitable for someone about to lead a campaign across Magvel. If you want to envision him in the clothes he'd be wearing now, just replace the armor for torn brown rags with numerous patches and broken sandals. The last thing: I drew him straight! Really! I just scanned him at an angle…

4-23-06: Noticed how few people were actually supporting this chapter. Retyped and reposted.

Disclaimer: If I pwn—I mean owned—Fire Emblem then…I dunno what'd be different. Maybe you could open the sound room without beating the game.

--

"_We're here."_ Not exactly the way to describe where they were standing. To be precise they were at the top of a green hill overlooking a walled square. Not exactly the world's most eye-pleasing piece man had to offer, but it did serve its purpose well.

Already a batch of new soldiers barely capable of wearing half their armor had run out to fetch the group and bring them inside the fort. Evan personally wasn't really sure that they had a choice. _'But if this man at my side is the second-in-command or higher then we could easily loot this place and scram before any new soldier catches us.'_

The new guards were soon joined by additional new guys who decided to randomly follow, not that any of Evan's Gang new why. The party tramped through several twisting dark passages that slowly opened to a single door—wood with iron lining—that glinted sinisterly in the torchlight. Just behind Evan Isaac gulped loudly.

One of the senior trainees knocked respectfully before opening the door and backing away quickly. Sweat began to build up on Evan's palms at the same moment at least a good thousand butterflies found his stomach. What if this commander kills them at the spot? All his actions would've been for naught! What few thousand human settlements remained would continue to drown in the evil of the Demon King unchecked for generations.

'_Well, it's not as if standing here will do anything,'_ he finally decided before stepping forward. He could just peer into the cavernous room behind the door when he heard the light footfalls of Isaac and the carefully placed feet of Sam directly behind him.

"Hey! Watch where you poke that thing!" shouted Yumi.

Evan dropped his head and sighed. She knew just the right way to ruin a sinister and suspenseful moment.

With quick steps that bounced lightly off the walls and was absorbed by the large amount of humans present Evan entered the stone room. For the first time since he was outside the boy blinked several times causing everyone else to stumble into him. Effect: dominoes.

The young man blinked several times before realizing where he was. He coughed once and pushed his slight weight up from under his four companions. It took them all a while, but they were eventually up standing.

What they saw was nothing special. A standard wood desk with a few scorch marks, several lit torches, and the commander for this particular base. To Evan's eternal embarrassment he was wearing an amused smirk on his lips.

"I suppose that you must be the peasant Evan and his gang of runaways. I am Lieutenant James' second cousin Steven, Commander of the base. According to the report he sent out earlier you are all siding against the monster's rule o'er Magvel, correct?" asked the man, smirking in a way that appeared oddly like Evan.

"Uh…yes, we're trying to evade capture by them and free those in similar positions that we were in," explained Evan hesitantly.

"Then we are brothers fighting on the same side!" exclaimed Steven, excitement shining through his eyes like the sun through clouds.

All five companions gave him their own version of the Evil Eye technique. Needless to say Steven settled down after a glance at their expressions.

"Sure…but there is something we've been wondering. _How_ will we defeat the Demon King?" asked Isaac before his older friend could stop him.

"Yes...that's something I can't answer. You should check with Frelia's scholars. They should have a theory or at least a lead as to where you should go next. But is there anything else you'd like answered before we send you off to Frelia?" Steven asked, edging away from Sam's unending glare.

"Yeah. J—I mean Lieutenant James—was explaining everyone's position in this tyranny. Bluntly I don't have the faintest clue as to what "Demon's Land" or "Desert" is. Could you explain any better?" asked Evan. _'If he can answer these questions then everything will be made so much clearer. With that knowledge we can decide who to and not to trust. I can stop having Isaac mistake any human who isn't the same as us be called a traitor. And I can finally start planning!'_

"Oh. James is a horrible storyteller. I'm fifty times greater than him!" Everyone ignored the sneeze outside the room. Except Sam, she was still glaring. "Yes, let's start with this half the known world.

"Frelia is the strongest of the remaining free lands. In fact, it's the only free land besides us, Renais. Their beautiful warriors defend the skies and utterly destroy the land. Oh, did I mention that my sister fights along side them? Must mean the beautiful gene is in the family. With this defense they've become the cornerstone of our operations. Using their might they can continue studying magic, a major weakness for most common monsters while we raise the melee fighters.

"Then there is Renais. We're mostly desolate and rely way too heavily on these few bases led by the most intelligent of all fighters, people like me!" Sam's glare intensified tenfold. "We host a few farms, but they remain close to our bases for fear of the occasional monster attack.

"Somewhere beyond that is Carcino, the Jailhouse. Humans who disobey the monsters in eastern territories go there to rot and join the service of the Demon King. Truly a sick place, I personally advise that you avoid that place like the plague."

"What's a plague?" whispered Isaac.

"Something bad…I think," replied Evan.

"Not to far away from the Jailhouse is the place where the destruction began. Leaching from its dark depths Grado Castle plagues us with its evil tint. I'm guessing from what James said that you guys came from that evil land. May whatever merciful beings up there bless you.

"Somewhere beyond that is the desert land Jehanna. The desert is so useless that all the Demon could think of is that they'd make a good place to breed Gorgons and send messages. And that's exactly what they do there. Breed Gorgons and send messages across the east.

"And then there is the Demon's Land. It is so evil a place that I cannot bare mention such a thing. Find the priest and have him bless my room, these travelers, and myself. I abhor imagining the bad karma this will bring in. Go! Go now and leave my splendor from your unclean luck," stated the man as he sank back into his chair.

Four companions just blinked. One glared and managed to look disdainful at the same time. They had done no more than innocently ask him to explain Magvel to them.

"That is it! I have found the truth behind this vale of darkness!" declared Steven. "You are all revenants in disguise! Guards, kill them!"

Instantly the five companions froze in whatever position they were in. They weren't monsters!

"Yes, you are all monsters that were chased for the sake of fooling us. James may have been fool enough to fall for such a trick, but I—the great Steven—have seen through this mask!"

Every little recruit standing outside the door suddenly burst through in a shower of wood splinters. Every last one of the twenty plus warriors lowered their spear, including the incredibly shy one that had poked Yumi before with his lance.

"What'll we do?" whispered Isaac.

"I don't know," replied Evan as he backed away from one particularly vicious lance wielder.

"We're doomed!" wailed Yumi as she collapsed in a sea of tears.

"…perhaps this is the end. It was nice meeting you, Evan," spoke Lily so quietly that few could tell she spoke.

"Don't be presumptuous. We might live to see day again," advised Sam. Despite her words everyone could tell that she was unsure. Deep down everyone knew it. They were doomed.

--

Character by Lao Who Mai. You'll learn his/her name soon enough, so don't bug me.

--

I know that I basically redid the explanation with a few twists, but I did try. I'm sorry for such a lame chapter. I had to redo the entire thing because the original stunk so much. It made a cow pasture or an ancient sewage system smell like a field of flowers.

**Waah! I didn't get the 25 reviews!** I _know_ that if the 400+ mean readers out there, who click, read, and close would just **leave a review** I'd manage to hit the same 25 review goal.

Keep this in mind and I'll update on time. Note that I was really tempted not to. Reviews:Gas:Inspiration:Fuel If you can figure it out then good for you. It really shouldn't be that hard.


	6. Chapter 5: Sides of a War

Bah! Sorry guys, I meant to type this up a while ago, but we had tests and I wanted to score high on them. Not to mention that my mom decided to have a long chat about how to treat my sibling of lower intellect than me.

One other thing. I've got the picture of Evan saved and shot with an anti-virus program (I do **not** want to consider what is _in_ those computers at school) so if anyone wants to see a picture I hand drew and colored on PhotoDraw (I'm only a n00b! Don't hurt me!) Just send word and I'll try my best to send it your way, but note that he will be wearing clothes more suitable for someone about to lead a campaign across Magvel. If you want to envision him in the clothes he'd be wearing now, just replace the armor for torn brown rags with numerous patches and broken sandals. The last thing: I drew him straight! Really! I just scanned him at an angle…

4-23-06: Noticed how few people were actually supporting this chapter. Retyped and reposted.

Disclaimer: If I pwn—I mean owned—Fire Emblem then…I dunno what'd be different. Maybe you could open the sound room without beating the game.

--

"_We're here."_ Not exactly the way to describe where they were standing. To be precise they were at the top of a green hill overlooking a walled square. Not exactly the world's most eye-pleasing piece man had to offer, but it did serve its purpose well.

Already a batch of new soldiers barely capable of wearing half their armor had run out to fetch the group and bring them inside the fort. Evan personally wasn't really sure that they had a choice. _'But if this man at my side is the second-in-command or higher then we could easily loot this place and scram before any new soldier catches us.'_

The new guards were soon joined by additional new guys who decided to randomly follow, not that any of Evan's Gang new why. The party tramped through several twisting dark passages that slowly opened to a single door—wood with iron lining—that glinted sinisterly in the torchlight. Just behind Evan Isaac gulped loudly.

One of the senior trainees knocked respectfully before opening the door and backing away quickly. Sweat began to build up on Evan's palms at the same moment at least a good thousand butterflies found his stomach. What if this commander kills them at the spot? All his actions would've been for naught! What few thousand human settlements remained would continue to drown in the evil of the Demon King unchecked for generations.

'_Well, it's not as if standing here will do anything,'_ he finally decided before stepping forward. He could just peer into the cavernous room behind the door when he heard the light footfalls of Isaac and the carefully placed feet of Sam directly behind him.

"Hey! Watch where you poke that thing!" shouted Yumi.

Evan dropped his head and sighed. She knew just the right way to ruin a sinister and suspenseful moment.

With quick steps that bounced lightly off the walls and was absorbed by the large amount of humans present Evan entered the stone room. For the first time since he was outside the boy blinked several times causing everyone else to stumble into him. Effect: dominoes.

The young man blinked several times before realizing where he was. He coughed once and pushed his slight weight up from under his four companions. It took them all a while, but they were eventually up standing.

What they saw was nothing special. A standard wood desk with a few scorch marks, several lit torches, and the commander for this particular base. To Evan's eternal embarrassment he was wearing an amused smirk on his lips.

"I suppose that you must be the peasant Evan and his gang of runaways. I am Lieutenant James' second cousin Steven, Commander of the base. According to the report he sent out earlier you are all siding against the monster's rule o'er Magvel, correct?" asked the man, smirking in a way that appeared oddly like Evan.

"Uh…yes, we're trying to evade capture by them and free those in similar positions that we were in," explained Evan hesitantly.

"Then we are brothers fighting on the same side!" exclaimed Steven, excitement shining through his eyes like the sun through clouds.

All five companions gave him their own version of the Evil Eye technique. Needless to say Steven settled down after a glance at their expressions.

"Sure…but there is something we've been wondering. _How_ will we defeat the Demon King?" asked Isaac before his older friend could stop him.

"Yes...that's something I can't answer. You should check with Frelia's scholars. They should have a theory or at least a lead as to where you should go next. But is there anything else you'd like answered before we send you off to Frelia?" Steven asked, edging away from Sam's unending glare.

"Yeah. J—I mean Lieutenant James—was explaining everyone's position in this tyranny. Bluntly I don't have the faintest clue as to what "Demon's Land" or "Desert" is. Could you explain any better?" asked Evan. _'If he can answer these questions then everything will be made so much clearer. With that knowledge we can decide who to and not to trust. I can stop having Isaac mistake any human who isn't the same as us be called a traitor. And I can finally start planning!'_

"Oh. James is a horrible storyteller. I'm fifty times greater than him!" Everyone ignored the sneeze outside the room. Except Sam, she was still glaring. "Yes, let's start with this half the known world.

"Frelia is the strongest of the remaining free lands. In fact, it's the only free land besides us, Renais. Their beautiful warriors defend the skies and utterly destroy the land. Oh, did I mention that my sister fights along side them? Must mean the beautiful gene is in the family. With this defense they've become the cornerstone of our operations. Using their might they can continue studying magic, a major weakness for most common monsters while we raise the melee fighters.

"Then there is Renais. We're mostly desolate and rely way too heavily on these few bases led by the most intelligent of all fighters, people like me!" Sam's glare intensified tenfold. "We host a few farms, but they remain close to our bases for fear of the occasional monster attack.

"Somewhere beyond that is Carcino, the Jailhouse. Humans who disobey the monsters in eastern territories go there to rot and join the service of the Demon King. Truly a sick place, I personally advise that you avoid that place like the plague."

"What's a plague?" whispered Isaac.

"Something bad…I think," replied Evan.

"Not to far away from the Jailhouse is the place where the destruction began. Leaching from its dark depths Grado Castle plagues us with its evil tint. I'm guessing from what James said that you guys came from that evil land. May whatever merciful beings up there bless you.

"Somewhere beyond that is the desert land Jehanna. The desert is so useless that all the Demon could think of is that they'd make a good place to breed Gorgons and send messages. And that's exactly what they do there. Breed Gorgons and send messages across the east.

"And then there is the Demon's Land. It is so evil a place that I cannot bare mention such a thing. Find the priest and have him bless my room, these travelers, and myself. I abhor imagining the bad karma this will bring in. Go! Go now and leave my splendor from your unclean luck," stated the man as he sank back into his chair.

Four companions just blinked. One glared and managed to look disdainful at the same time. They had done no more than innocently ask him to explain Magvel to them.

"That is it! I have found the truth behind this vale of darkness!" declared Steven. "You are all revenants in disguise! Guards, kill them!"

Instantly the five companions froze in whatever position they were in. They weren't monsters!

"Yes, you are all monsters that were chased for the sake of fooling us. James may have been fool enough to fall for such a trick, but I—the great Steven—have seen through this mask!"

Every little recruit standing outside the door suddenly burst through in a shower of wood splinters. Every last one of the twenty plus warriors lowered their spear, including the incredibly shy one that had poked Yumi before with his lance.

"What'll we do?" whispered Isaac.

"I don't know," replied Evan as he backed away from one particularly vicious lance wielder.

"We're doomed!" wailed Yumi as she collapsed in a sea of tears.

"…perhaps this is the end. It was nice meeting you, Evan," spoke Lily so quietly that few could tell she spoke.

"Don't be presumptuous. We might live to see day again," advised Sam. Despite her words everyone could tell that she was unsure. Deep down everyone knew it. They were doomed.

--

Character by Lao Who Mai. You'll learn his/her name soon enough, so don't bug me.

--

I know that I basically redid the explanation with a few twists, but I did try. I'm sorry for such a lame chapter. I had to redo the entire thing because the original stunk so much. It made a cow pasture or an ancient sewage system smell like a field of flowers.

**Waah! I didn't get the 25 reviews!** I _know_ that if the 400+ mean readers out there, who click, read, and close would just **leave a review** I'd manage to hit the same 25 review goal.

Keep this in mind and I'll update on time. Note that I was really tempted not to. Reviews:Gas:Inspiration:Fuel If you can figure it out then good for you. It really shouldn't be that hard.


	7. Chapter 6: In and Out of a Hole

Sorry everyone for the late update. My parents decided to take a vacation and left me with my grandparents shortly after I got back home Friday afternoon. Unfortunately they have one computer and dail-up Internet. Yes, the kind that doesn't let you use the phone while surfing the web and that makes a slug look fast. Sorry for the delay!

I still have an Evan picture…as a .jpg image file. This time I really shot that thing hard with my virus scanner so you should be safe if you want to see it. If you want to know what he looks like in armor please e-mail me and I'll send the picture to you.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fire Emblem then I'd be sitting in a huge mansion right on the water with several yachts, motorboats, and drinking lemonade. Unfortunately this is all still a dream…

--

"_Don't be presumptuous. We might live to see day again," advised Sam. Despite her words everyone could tell that she was unsure. Deep down everyone knew it. They were doomed._

Each of the recruits had formed a tightly packed wall of humans to block every possible exit. There was no getting out of this hole at any moment.

"I'm too young to die!" wailed Yumi from her spot on the floor.

"Now really, Steven. We aren't monsters!" yelled Isaac. "Monsters don't cry like babies!"

"So you want me to believe!" declared Steven before pounding the table in a sign to begin the attack.

"Will somebody help us?" shouted Isaac.

Almost as if on cue (1) something broke through the northern hole in the wall once known as a door. Yumi only looked up from her sea of tears when an iron sword embedded itself in the floor next to her face. Looking up in shock she saw Isaac's smiling face and that recruit that had poked her earlier.

"Isaac, what's going on?" asked Yumi, cursing herself for letting her voice waver.

"No time to explain. C'mon, Hven (2)here won't be of much use unless we start fighting soon," stated the little thief as he began his job.

"Hven? Hey! You're that—"

"N-no time…g-g-got to fight," muttered the boy before shying into himself again. "G-got to help my friend…"

"Yeah!" shouted Yumi smiling like a madman. With a jerk of her arm the iron sword was resting in her palm. Her insane grin grew—if possible—even wider.

Isaac was darting in and out of the enemy lines letting his thin nimble fingers lightly pick off a few supplies and several months' wages. The boy chuckled slightly; _never_ leave your wallet out where just anyone can…borrow something.

Sam on the other hand wasn't having near as much fun. Sure it was entertaining to watch the wooden desk crackle and hiss as her magic scorched the surface, but only in a pyromaniac kind of way. And her magic spells, a simple Fire tossed to her from the weird recruit, had _killed _someone. Sure she'd seen plenty of deaths in her childhood thanks to living in a monster-infested camp, but to be the one inflicting the punishment wasn't what she had originally intended. The stench of charred flesh was still singeing her nostrils even if she had made certain to attack at a range. Bluntly if she had been even a tiny bit less used to this thing she'd have lost her lunch, breakfast, and whatever she had gotten for dinner last night.

Evan was in just about the same boat as Sam only worse. He couldn't attack at a range so any kills he made were still littering the floor around him. If he hadn't been forced to watch this thing after getting caught snitching food with Isaac a week's worth of meals would've met stale air again. Speaking of which…the air was getting a bit on the warm and dry side…

Yumi was one of the first to notice the change. Hven and Lily were busy fighting together so she had been left alone to make mincemeat. As such she had been right next to the wall when she'd seen it coming. Instantly her blue eyes widened and she barely managed to dodge a lance.

"Sam! Stop casting your magic!" she shouted desperately.

"Wha—ah!" screamed their only magic caster. But it was too late. Even if Yumi's shout had managed to stop the spell and cause Sam to receive a fairly desperate lunge the damage had been done.

The sparks from her half-made spell shot out from the book before the mage could snap the pages shut. She screamed in fear as the sparks became more violent and dropped the book. Evan shouted something and Hven, Isaac, and Lily all clumped together. Yumi tried to desperately grab onto Sam, but only managed to pull on her still-grungy hair.

Sam's mistake activated in seconds. The sparks caught the dried and partially scorched wood desk to erupt both desk and chair in flames. Isaac's breath froze when he saw which direction the flames were racing. Straight towards the torches which were undoubtedly coated in oil…

The resulting explosion wasn't seen by anyone. Any poor soul watching the flame was instantly blinded and those who had turned away were shot from the building like a cannonball from a cannon.

The wind was tearing relentlessly at Evan amongst the rock. What scant rags he still had were easily torn to threads…not that he didn't find a way to cover himself. (No perverts, people!) His arms were bloodied and his hand was quickly rubbed raw, but never once did they release their hold on the precious sword carefully sheathed away and only lifeline.

Just a few feet away from him was Isaac, flying faster than anyone else present. His matted blond hair was quick to cover his eyes while the dust choked him. The small frame of the thief was the first to strike the ground, a good 200 meters away from the bomb. Needless to say he didn't move.

Hven on the other hand was gripping onto Lily with everything he had all while trying not to let go from embarrassment. He couldn't let go! If he let go then his entire life, or what little he got out of it, would end. He had to at least lead these people away from the bad men unless the dark blue haired guy made him leave.

Lily wasn't overly surprised about her position. From what she'd seen, this boy was completely useless simply preferring to hang out near the healer and freaking out from the lightest of all scratches. Hopefully he'd serve his purpose, and maybe break her fall if only he was just 5° to the left…

Yumi was enjoying her ride through the air. Despite the large amounts of chipped rock ruining her face, the trip was fun. Hearing the wind howl songs to you while you ride amongst the dust was like a dream come true. Unable to control herself any longer she opened her mouth and let out a squeal of delight. "Yahoo!"

Sam was gawking at the girl who had barely missed the opportunity to prevent the disaster. Sure it was nice that she had warned her, but it was still her—Sam, the mage's—fault. If she had only paid closer attention to what was on the torches and how much danger she was putting everyone else in by using Fire none of this would've happened. Tears of regret and pity burned at her eyes as a particularly large piece of rubble came at her.

Evan landed with a heavy thud on the wonderfully springy grass. Sighing in relief that nothing to important had broken the young man tried to stand up only to hear a horrible grating noise. Instinct took over and he stopped just after managing to sit up straight. He tilted his head this way and that to try and decipher the where the noise was coming from, but a wave of nausea overtook his senses.

Stopping again the young man tried to check his body over for anything important ending up broken. When he moved his right arm the same nausea came, but other than that nothing felt wrong or out of place. Relief flooded him and he slowly managed to rise, one hand resting against a tree.

Only then did he begin to check his weapons. His left hand clasped the hilt uncertainly. _'Will I be halfway decent with my left hand as I am my right?'_ wondered Evan as he pulled the weapon out from inside the leather sheath. To his dismay the weapon he removed was nothing more than a hilt and a jagged edge. A jagged edge that had broken his fall.

His heart sunk faster than a little kid through chocolate (obviously in our world.) He was weaponless, broken, and worse of all: alone.

--

(1) Or maybe it was on cue?

(2) Hven by Lao Who Mai

--

I know that my chapters have been getting shorter and all, but I'm sorry! This is all entirely unscripted and as such I don't have any witty disclaimers or long chapters to post. I had to change the goal, somehow getting 25 reviews when starting at 23 doesn't seem to work so the new goal is **28 reviews**. I don't think that is entirely unreasonable. Based on some quick calculations—and yes, I do know that they are unlikely to be true—this fiction is clicked on at about 100 times a chapter. If most of you guys out there reviewed then you'd get more than one update a week. But then again, if you guys met my goals I might make a chapter just to celebrate…


	8. Chapter 7: Only to fall back In

Aw… we fell one short of the goal. Come on people, I know you want to make me work just to reward the nice readers who review.

Disclaimer: Does it _look_ like I live in Japan? I can barely say "hello!" I don't own Fire Emblem!

--

_Only then did he begin to check his weapons. His left hand clasped the hilt uncertainly. '_Will I be halfway decent with my left hand as I am my right?'_ wondered Evan as he pulled the weapon out from inside the leather sheath. To his dismay the weapon he removed was nothing more than a hilt and a jagged edge. A jagged edge that had broken his fall._

_His heart sunk faster than a little kid through chocolate (obviously in our world.) He was weaponless, broken, and worse of all: alone._

Evan's breath hitched in his throat as tears threatened to rise. He forced them back down, after all the mastermind behind the insanity couldn't cry! Laugh evilly or go insane is one thing, but a mastermind may never cry in public.

The boy just sat on the floor, breathing deeply through his mouth. _'There's nothing I can do. My legs are sprained, possibly broken. Standing isn't an option and everyone I can trust is most likely miles _(or kilometers if you care) _away out cold. My dream, future, life…it's all hopeless now,'_ he thought, letting the darkness that had been clawing at his eyesight cover him.

--

Sam woke groggily from the place where she had been lying. With a loud groan the young mage girl tried to pull herself up. Her lame attempts to speak only managed to alert a few people as each of her senses took their sweet little time to come back.

The loud unidentifiable noises above her seemed to grow more excited as she attempted to open her eyes. Several blurs swirled around as if in water before she shut her eyes again. Breathing deeply for a few minutes she tried again, only this time with her mouth.

She decided to try something simple, "Where's Isaac?" But like everything coming out of a teenager who had been violently tossed away from an explosion, it came out a bit muffled. To be exact, it was something more akin to, "Mm-mm's Nuggroah? (1)"

A voice reached out to her in the darkness of her closed eyelids. "Pardon me?"

Sam's head felt like it had been stuffed and reattached on her shoulders as she sluggishly deciphered the question. Once the normally fast-paced control center of the body figured it out the command was sent to reply. Obedient to the brain, Sam opened her mouth to try and reply.

"Wha--?" she managed before her head exploded into pain. Why were all the explosions happening around her?

The sound of a palm striking a forehead echoed through the room. "Oh, silly me! I'm Janet, my son found you out near the forest along with another little girl."

"Yeah! She found us and now I'm all like…woozy…" started an annoyingly familiar voice just a bit away from her own position.

"Yumi?" asked Sam as she snapped her eyes open again.

--

After what felt like an eternity to the two girls who knew nothing of how their friends were fairing they were allowed to leave the small farm. Gathering what few food supplies and the small—and nearly broken—sword they had received they left.

"So…how do you think the others are doing?"

Sam just blinked and frowned. It _was _her fault. If anyone had died thanks to her… what would her family say? Were her family members still _alive_ thanks to her little escapade with the two boys?

"Hello? Are you still in the land of the living?" demanded Yumi, pouncing on the young mage.

The harmless attack on the mage sent the two flying. The dirty black hair of Sam flew back from her face to slightly cushion her head from a spherical rock. …Wait, rocks aren't spheres only some hilts, staffs, and… —Sam swallowed in fear—bones.

Her feminine instincts took over. She let off a scream unlike any other.

Instantly Yumi scrambled off her as if she was burned. "W-what's wrong?" she asked, letting her blue eyes shine with the fear both of them held.

"T-there's something u-u-underneath m-m-m-me!" screeched Sam, fear removing any sense of dignity she harbored.

Her blue haired comrade instantly unsheathed her weapon and began to dig carefully near Sam. Her fingers scrapped against a long and nearly perfectly cylindrical tube nearly a centimeter under the earth. Wrapping her five digits around this she yanked upwards and into the air.

A small dagger, the type that thieves and bandits used, surfaced. But along with the dagger came a cold and pale hand. Both girls didn't hesitate, they screamed as if their lives depended on it.

--

Hven woke to an unusual amount of weight on his chest. He risked cracking open an eye after several minutes of deep breathing. To his shock Lily was lying with her head right on his chest armor.

The boy breathed out in relief. He wasn't alone! Thank the holy powers from above; he was with someone else, and a healer at that!

The sudden release of air however woke the cleric from her painful slumber. With a strangled cry she jumped off and began patting the ground around them for her life-saving staff.

"No--!" she cried out suddenly, tilting her head up to the heavens.

Her only companion decided to try and speak and opened his mouth, only to shut it in fear, open it again, and gape like a fish. Why, oh why, did his vocal cords decide to not respond now of all times?

"My staff," she wailed, collapsing into a state close to tears. Hven's heart, which had been beating rather quickly from his awakening (2), froze. He was with a healer who was without a staff.

He tried to form words again, but no air would vibrate the cords enough to produce sound.

"What will I do? Everyone else could be seriously injured or dead and I can't help them!" she continued to cry out. Hven tried to think up a way to calm her down so that he _might_ survive in the cold harsh real world, but nothing would come to his scared mind.

They were really out of any illusionary safety now.

--

Evan tried to move again, even if it was against his better judgment. Clawing his way across the grass and dirt to find a few sturdy branches. Tearing off any spare material he had he fastened the poor splints to his legs and made some very poor excuses for crutches.

Through a series of rather painful jumps and hobbles he found a rather used path of dirt. As pain intruded again on his eyesight a sigh of relief left his mouth. Maybe he wouldn't die out here alone.

--

A cloaked man (3) decided to step out from the forest of dead trees where Evan had found the branches for his support. With silent and small steps, so small it looked as if he was gliding across the ground in the dark cloak, and stopped an arm's length away from Evan's unconscious form.

Two cold yellow eyes squinted at his prone form. A small chuckle escaped his lips as two black gloved hands picked up the young man's tattered and broken body. Yep, today was definitely his day.

--

(1) Wow. That sounds like me in the mornings.

(2) Or maybe it's something else? Lao Who Mai, check your e-mail soon, please.

(3) You've seen him, but I won't tell you who he is, where he was, or anything like that. If I told you it wouldn't be fun, after all for all you know he could be… any of the males that appeared!

--

Yeah, sorry for taking so long getting this out. My updates will settle down in a few weeks, but until that happens my teachers have decided that last minute projects are the way to end a year.

We were _this_ close to getting an extra chapter. I made an analogy for the attempts! Take football, a rather odd USA sport where two teams of men grab an ovular brown ball and bash each other's heads in. The sprinter guy grabs the ball and takes off for the opponent's yellow goal post. With only a few more seconds to the game if he makes it will decide the winner. He charges and throws the ball with all his might. Everyone watches the path, including the men bashing their skulls in. Everyone is leaning forward to watch, when the ball bounces off one of the metal poles next to the opening.

The oval nearly makes it to the other side, but bounces back at the last minute and lands with a quiet thump on the fake green grass… on the wrong side of the goal.

The prize and goal remains the same. **Thirty-three **(33)** reviews** and you get an extra chapter. **Thirty-eight **(38)** reviews** and you get two extra chapters or two in which both are extra long. Keep this in mind, and don't hesitate to click on the little button on the left.


	9. Chapter 8: A Welcome Reunion

For those who couldn't quite figure it out, Evan collapsed from pain, not because he's a wimp.

I am alive! Sorry about how long it took me to come back. Read the footnote if you want to know the official reason why it took me so long. Otherwise it's because I had… uh… exams! And I needed to study! Yeah… study… eh heh…

Isaac: The author lies. Beta _never_ studies. This lazy bum would prefer to sit around reading than studying. No matter what this guy says, you may attack the _wonderful_ author.

NO! Isaac! You shall pay for that! Say the disclaimer, now!

Isaac: sigh Disclaimer: Beta owns one mp3 player, a computer, homework, summer reading assignments, homework, a DS, a bunch of old Nintendo handhelds, five or six copies of popular games, and a Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance disk. Nothing more and plenty less.

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_A cloaked man decided to step out from the forest of dead trees where Evan had found the branches for his support. With silent and small steps, so small it looked as if he was gliding across the ground in the dark cloak, and stopped an arm's length away from Evan's unconscious form._

_Two cold yellow eyes squinted at his prone form. A small chuckle escaped his lips as two black gloved hands picked up the young man's tattered and broken body. Yep, today was definitely his day._

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Evan woke to more pain, but not the pain of waking on a rocky ground, but the pain of waking on something smooth and very hard with a particular extra unwanted weight attached to your arms. Groaning from the feeling of stiff joints slowly waking again the blue haired boy slowly began to sit up. Once in a full sitting position he began to rub his eyes in hopes of regaining his eyesight. (1)

With his eyes finally opened and willing to accept the sights that the world had to offer he began to look around. Dank walls kept the light out from the small grimy room he was sitting in. Mold grew in long watery tufts near the ceiling and at the floors adding a tiny bit of greenery to the drab grey of stone. Next to a large patch of mold lie his broken temporary crutches, each of the pieces of wood had been neatly split down the center and lie just out of his reach.

Shackles lie on chains hanging about halfway up the walls. Looking down Evan finally spotted the source of any extra weight he had been carrying. Around his thin bare wrists lie several rusting bands locked tightly together. Moaning in desperation the boy let his back rest against the cold stone. _'How am I supposed to get out of this one?'_

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Sam and Yumi did everything in their power not to scream again when the earth directly beneath them started to shake slightly before settling down again. Sam could have sworn that she saw the hand shudder a bit.

"Y-Yumi… t-th-that hand…" Sam started, swallowing her fear. "It… doesn't look like a monster's… and if all else fails that thing's been underground long enough for us to outrun it."

Yumi just stared at the mage as if she was crazy. Okay, so in truth she was crazy, but that wasn't the point.

"S-Sam, you want me to g-g-go and…" Yumi asked, reaching for her sword.

"Please?"

Yumi grimaced and dug up the rest of the hand. An arm followed the hand and a torso followed the arm. Suddenly the entire body shuddered and Yumi dropped the arm in surprise. The torso shook wildly and a head pulled up from a thin layer of dirt.

Sam hesitantly stepped forward to examine the person they dug up. Dirt marred the features of the young boy. Various rocks and earthen creatures had taken a home to the guy's hair. Brushing aside several bugs and a pile of dirt Sam froze.

The boy's chest was still moving up and down hinting that the guy had fallen unconscious when he was buried and was still alive. Something about this kid seemed familiar though…

"Isaac?" Sam asked hesitantly, ignoring the fact that her breath had just quickened to the pace of a speeding hare.

"Sam? Have you gone mad?" asked Yumi, shooting her with an odd stare.

The boy just coughed for a very long time. He tried very slowly to open his eyes, but shut them again when his brain couldn't take the strain.

"Ugh…" muttered the boy.

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Hven was still staring at Lily with wide eyes. This couldn't be good. To be caught with someone who couldn't defend themselves in the middle of no where was _not_ the best wake up call.

Lily was still bemoaning the loss of her staff and Hven wasn't about to interrupt it. Still common sense had a way of overriding fear.

"L-Lily?" Why oh why was his heart beating so fast? He could have a heart attack out here! "I… think we should… go…" he mumbled. Hven's companion instantly looked at him.

"You are correct… perhaps we can find a staff out here," she stated, obviously talking about the staves some people discarded when they still had one or two good uses in them.

And so the soldier and the cleric began the long trek towards who-knew-where. The sun was nearly gone when they finally found a small hut near a forest. Lily smiled faintly to herself as she knocked on the door. Hven was standing right behind her.

A kind old woman opened the door and politely let the two into her house seeing as how they weren't bandits.

"May I help you dearies?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. We are travelers who were separated from our companions and were wondering if you would be kind enough as to lend us some shelter this evening. The companion that held our tent disappeared a few days ago," answered Lily while Hven just shyly nodded behind her.

"Ah! You are like the two young ladies I met earlier!" she cried out. "I do not normally get visitors so please, make yourselves at home."

The soldier and the cleric gratefully sat down on the wooden chairs and began the light meal that the old woman brought out with her daughter.

"So, you mentioned two young ladies. Did you get their names?" asked Lily as she bit into the deer meat.

The older woman sat there staring off into space as she tried to remember. The silence reigned for a few minutes until the younger woman answered.

"I think their names were… Umi and Sam," she replied.

Lily and Hven exchanged glances. There was no mistaking it. Sam and Yumi had been here.

"Where did they go?"

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Yumi and Sam at that moment were dragging the nearly dead boy they had uncovered over to the house. That boy looked so disturbingly like Isaac the two girls couldn't resist it. As it was the two took turns dragging the boy over the fields until they could see the small little hut.

The mage breathed a sigh of relief. This kid was _heavy!_ Yumi noticed this too and released a final spurt of energy. The three looked dead (not that one didn't to start with) when Sam began to knock on the door.

Hven hesitantly opened the door just in time to see Yumi pitch over into unconsciousness.

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(1) Think of it as like waking up from a really deep sleep. You don't want to wake up, but you do because you have to and you take your sweet time in opening your eyes.

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You must be clueless if you don't know what I'm going to say. You may still send in OC ideas even if it takes an eternity to appear.

If you still don't know, I started yet another NARUTO story. This one happens to be a Naru/HP crossover and has been the center of my attention for some time now. FYI, that story has three chapters up and is gaining on you in terms of reviews. If you want more reviews then make me turn back to this one and REVIEW! The goal is 36 reviews. Do that andI might add another chapter soon.


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